Marketplace Roundup

Mittens will be available at some retailers
including Target and Kohl's

USA TODAY reported blue mittens "printed with 'Go USA' are being sold to support Olympic and Paralympic athletes and hopefuls." USOC Marketing Communications Dir Lindsay Hogan said that the mittens would be "available for $14 on the TeamUSA.org web site for pre-order" starting yesterday. The campaign "officially launches Oct. 29, timed to 100 days until the opening ceremony" of the '14 Sochi Games. Mittens also will be available "at some retailers, including Target and Kohl's." Red mittens were "all the rage among Canadian fans" at the '10 Vancouver Games (USATODAY.com, 9/30).

AMERICA'S TICKET: THE MMQB's Peter King noted this is the fifth year the Cowboys and the Texas Lottery "have teamed up to create a scratch-off lottery game." Customers in the first four years that the tickets were on sale throughout the state "bought a mind-boggling" $184M worth of the Cowboys’ scratch-off, instant-win tickets. One of the prizes in the game is "access for two inside the Cowboys’ draft room the day of the first round of the 2014 NFL draft, and a briefing" with Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones about the team's draft strategy (MMQB.SI.com, 9/30).

SOCCER SUB: MARKETING DAILY's Karlene Lukovitz noted soccer star Pelé's first spot with QSR Subway debuted "just before the kickoff" of NBC's "SNF." The 30-second ad, "unlike other Subway ads, which mostly feature several 'famous fan' athletes," gives Pele "the solo spotlight." Pele is shown "sitting on a platform, with a Subway sandwich and soda on a table next to him, as soccer balls rain around him" (MEDIAPOST.com, 9/30).